Major Misstep
by pandorabox82
Summary: Buzz had always wondered what it would be like to be a hairsbreadth away from certain death. He just never thought he'd actually be in that situation with Flynn and Provenza.


Buzz wondered how he had managed to get himself into this situation. Normally, when he was out with Flynn and Provenza, something comical happened. It was just a statistical fact by this point. When they were called out for a case, even high profile ones, something went wrong, hilariously so. And he had almost lulled himself into thinking that that would be the case today, as well, given that Flynn had gotten them lost three times on the way to the latest crime scene. And yet, that was far from the case now, and he was actually wondering if he would be going home that night or if Doctor Morales would be performing his autopsy.

"Snap out of it, Buzz," he heard Provenza mutter, and he shook his head a little to clear the wool as he turned to look at the old man. Obviously, while he had been spaced out, something had happened that needed his full attention, and he frowned a little as he stared longingly at their pile of electronics that had been confiscated the moment they'd been handcuffed together. "We need to come up with a plan."

"Yeah, one that gets me out of this alive so that Sharon can kill me," Flynn deadpanned, and Buzz let out a scoffing laugh before trying to think of some way to help them escape. "Seriously, does anyone have a spare handcuff key under their tongue?"

"I wish," he said regretfully, before blowing his bangs out of his face. "I thought you all carried an extra one in your shoe?"

"You believed that bullshit always be prepared story we fed you when you were training to become a reserve officer?" Provenza said, nudging him almost painfully. "Seriously, did you just fall off the stupid truck and hit every idiot pothole as you rolled down the road?"

Buzz hoped that the snappish attitude the old man was taking with him was a direct result of his worry, since he knew that Patrice was on his case to retire, and this would not help his cause of remaining a member of the team any. "No, Sir, I just was raised to respect my elders," he snapped back, listening to the gruff chuckle that spilled from Provenza's lips. "But did anyone think to be a little more prepared than this?"

"I wish. Like I said, if we get out of this alive, Sharon is going to kill me. You're lucky in that respect, Buzz. You don't have to worry about your partner worrying about you."

"Yeah. But I also don't have a partner to worry about me."

A maudlin feeling fell over the group, and he shook his head a little as he tried to think of something that would be helpful. The door to their room rattled, and he was on instant alert, feeling panic fill his chest as he wondered if this was the moment he would die. "If either of you make it out of this alive, let Sharon know that I loved her. And that I would have spent the rest of my life with her."

"Shut up, Flynn, you're going to tell her that yourself. There's no way we're letting these jagoffs take us out."

The door opened, and a masked person stepped into the room. Almost involuntarily, Buzz relaxed a fraction, knowing that as long as their captor remained incognito, there stood a greater chance of them making it out alive. "Your team is going crazy trying to find you," a voice rasped, and once again, Buzz was unable to tell what gender their captor was. "It's too bad that if they don't follow the clues properly, the most they'll ever find are three bodies."

He shivered a little at the menace made clear in the tone of voice used, and tried to focus on pertinent details, things that would get them out of this alive. Slowly, the person crept closer to them before reaching out and sharply grabbing hold of Buzz's hair. "Stop!" he said, knowing instantly that it was a foolish outburst. The person's lips curved up in an ugly smile as they shook their head and pulled out a wicked looking knife. He stiffened and tried to make himself smaller and smaller as the knife came close to his face.

"I need something to let them know that I really have you. But for that little act of defiance, well, I just have to mark you." As Buzz stared into deep green eyes, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the sense that this was a woman holding them, a fierce, dangerous, woman who wouldn't be deterred by anything they might throw at her.

Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for what would come next, feeling the cool metal of the blade creep closer and closer to his skin. And then, she was running the tip of it down behind his ear, deep enough to draw blood. It wasn't enough to kill him, but it would leave a scar, and a part of his was just grateful that it wouldn't mar his face.

"You're too pretty to ruin," she murmured before pulling a hank of hair outwards and cutting through it with the knife. "You're too pretty to be a cop." Without warning, she kissed him fiercely, and he fought to keep his disgust in check at the assault, knowing how close the knife was to him, still. "See you later, gentlemen."

The woman turned on her heel, and still, Buzz kept from saying anything, not wanting to draw her back to them. The moment the door slammed shut, though, he let out the breath he'd been holding and turned his head to look at Flynn as best he could. "We have to get away from her. She's a loose cannon."

"How do you know it's a she?" he asked, his voice even and neutral.

"The way that she sounded, and how her lips felt against mine. Granted, I haven't kissed too many women in my life, but there is a difference."

Flynn nodded before flashing him a slight smile. "I'm sorry that you were forced to kiss her. That sort of intimacy should never be taken like that."

"It could have been worse," he muttered as he looked away, thinking about his past and some of the things that had happened to him over the years. "But we shouldn't focus on what happened, we should focus on a way to get out of here."

He gave a useless tug at his hands, and the grumble that fell from Provenza's lips told Buzz that he had maybe pulled a little too hard. But his level of frustration was increasing exponentially, and he just wanted to go home and get blindingly drunk. Somehow, he knew that Captain Raydor wouldn't mind him doing that, since he had the feeling that she would be taking care of Flynn whenever they made it out alive.

"Patrice might just have a point," Provenza said as he wriggled around on the chair he was attached to. "Even if I would miss you guys."

"Don't talk like that. We're going to make it out of this, we're going to live, and Buzz is going to get drunk for us."

"What about me? Don't I get to drink, Flynn?"

"No, you know Patrice doesn't like all those empty calories. We're going to live vicariously through our coworker, and it will be glorious."

Buzz let out a scoffing laugh as he shook his head, noticing the different way his hair moved now that a chunk of it was gone. "I'm so glad that I get a say in this."

"Hey, we'll be paying, so don't even think about complaining." That brought a true smile to his lips as he shrugged a little, knowing that he was so going to agree to their crazy scheme in the end. "You know, if we were to stretch our arms out all at once, we might be able to break the wooden spokes the cuffs are wrapped around. That would allow us more freedom."

"We could try," Provenza replied. "Who's going to do the countdown?"

"I will." Buzz took a deep breath. "On three. One, two, three." As one, they punched outwards with their arms. On Buzz's left, where he was connected to Flynn, the spoke gave way, and they shook out their arms a little.

"Well, Buzz, it seems like we made a little progress," Flynn said and he nodded. "So, are we ready to try that again?"

"Maybe you are, Andy, but my wrists hurt." Though it sounded like he was trying to brush it off with his words, Buzz could tell that he really was hurting.

"How about we try to maneuver over to the table where our phones are? Since Flynn and I have an arm free, one of us should be able to get a call out."

"Fine, we'll try that." Buzz nodded and began to scoot the chair forward, towards their hopeful salvation. It took a while, but they made it, and Buzz tried to catch his breath as he reached with trembling hands towards their devices. "Call Raydor. She'll be the one to bring the cavalry."

"That was the plan," he said, trying to keep irritation from his voice as he reached out for his phone. The first thing he did was check to make certain that they had a signal, then he looked at his battery reserve. "There should be enough juice in my battery to make a few calls," he said as he unlocked the device and scrolled down to find Captain Raydor's number.

Just as he went to touch her name on the screen, a heavy thud came from outside the door, and he shoved the phone in his pocket, wrenching Flynn's wrist painfully in his haste to hide the device away. "All right, we have to move quickly. Go, go, go," the man said as he began to almost drag them all back to their former position. It was a loud affair, but it didn't seem to attract attention from whoever was outside. Still, Buzz was not about to risk anything by trying to make any more calls, at least not until he was certain they were going to be alone.

Exhaustion began to gnaw at the edges of his brain, and Buzz found it hard not to nod off. "We have to stay awake and alert," Flynn hissed in his ear, which brought him back to full wakefulness. "I know that you're tired, I am, too. But we cannot get caught with our pants around our waists."

"I know, sir."

He was surprised to feel the older man squeeze his hand quickly, offering him comfort, and he struggled to keep from letting the hysteria of the situation overwhelm him. "We are going to make it out of this alive. Sharon is smart, and she'll know that something is up, and now with your phone on, Tao can track us through GPS and that will narrow down our position enough for SWAT to step in and handle things. There is a bright light at the end of this tunnel, just you wait and see."

"When you say it like that, I can almost see it happening in the next five minutes."

Provenza nodded slightly. "Knowing Raydor, even that will be too long. Our precious Princess Parfait want to rescue her darling Andy before a single hair is out of place on his head."

"Can it, Louie. You weren't ever supposed to reveal that."

Buzz grinned at the bickering, knowing that he now had a piece of blackmail in both men, should he ever need a favor. "I promise, I won't breathe a word. Now, do you want to place bets on how long it will take the Captain to get here?"

"Given how long it takes SWAT to get ready? I'd say we'll be here another six hours, at the minimum," Andy quickly replied, sounding a little more pessimistic than his earlier pep would have implied.

"Yeah, well, I'm going for her laying a trap for this psycho, which will take slightly longer than your six hours, Flynn. I say we'll be out of here by nine tomorrow morning."

"You're on. Whoever loses has to buy tickets to the next Dodgers game."

Buzz smiled before opening his mouth. "It won't take nearly that long. I say we'll be home in two hours or less."

"Ooh, listen to Mister Optimistic here. That might prove to be a bit of a misstep, Buzz. Hope you can afford the tickets we usually like for our games."

The good natured teasing from Provenza eased his nerves a little, and he gave a small nod as he attuned his ears to the noises that were happening outside the building. It felt as if all the hairs on his body were standing on end, and he knew that he would end up on the winning end of the bet. The door to the building opened, and he tensed his muscles, ready to run at the first sign of trouble.

"Your team is good," their captor said as she locked the door behind her and rushed over to their sides. "And I so wanted more time to play with you, too," she murmured as she leaned in and stroked Buzz's cheek almost lovingly. He had to check the shudder that threatened to run down his back, so as not to piss her off, and she smiled wickedly before kissing his forehead. "I know that you don't like that," she sang out as she lazily made her way over to the table where their belongings were.

Every sense was heightened as Buzz watched her look at their items. It was almost as if she knew something was missing, but she said nothing, and he felt a little emboldened to speak with her. "Why would you say our team is good?"

She turned and smiled at him once more as she reached up and peeled off her mask, revealing a conventionally pretty face that would have been nondescript on the streets of Los Angeles. Tossing it onto the table, she sauntered over to him and plopped down into his lap as she cupped his face and stared into his eyes. "Why, your sweet little captain is already on her way here with a team to try and get you back. I have no idea where she got the clue to look for you here, but I swear I was tailed on my way back to you. It's only too bad that all she'll find is a pile of charred remains. At least I'll get to die with someone pretty."

That was the second time she'd called him that, and Buzz decided to go with that in an effort to buy them some time. Time enough for at least one of the other men to get out alive and to their partners. "Why don't you think of yourself as pretty?" he asked, giving her a sympathetic look. "You are lovely."

"Not enough to make it in this town," she replied bitterly.

"Not everyone needs to be an actress," Buzz replied, another fake smile curving his lips upwards. "You could be anything here, this is a city where you can reinvent yourself and come out as the best version of you that's ever existed."

"You, my dear, are a dreamer. I used to be like you, before I came here. Now, all I see is the ugliness of myself, reflected back in the actions of people on the streets. Do you know what that's like? To look at every person walking down the sidewalk and see only a black, festering, hole where their face should be? Do you?"

Her fingers dug into his arms, and he winced a little at the pain. "I work for the police department. Of course I see people at their worst. But I also get to see people at their best, and know that there is good out there, for anyone, and that any mistake can be corrected, before things go too far. You haven't crossed that line yet, you haven't made that misstep, and there's time for you. Believe me."

His impassioned words seemed to break through a little of the haze that fogged the woman's brain, and she let her mask fall enough so that he could see the scared, confused, girl hiding beneath the veneer of toughness that she had lacquered on. "No, you're lying. I've already gone too far. There's nothing for me to go back to."

Buzz knew those words were not what he wanted to hear, and he glanced over at Andy, hoping that the man would be able to impart some sort of direction that he should take with the woman. Flynn's eyes were wide, and he looked nervously at the door, cluing Buzz into the fact that something was about to go down, that rescue was on the horizon. "Then look to the future. If there is no past, there's nothing to weigh you down."

The door to the building crashed open as he said those words, and he felt the young woman stiffen in his arms before starting to fumble around for a weapon. Captain Raydor was at their side in a heartbeat, her gun pressed up close to the woman's temple. "Make one more move and I will not hesitate to send you to your maker," she hissed, and Buzz shivered a little, hearing the old Darth Raydor in her voice.

Reluctantly, the woman nodded and slipped off his lap, meekly allowing Tao to cuff her hands behind her back before he patted her down for weapons. As she was being led out the door, she spared one last look at Buzz, and he felt his heart lurch a little at the empty look in her eyes. She really must have been backed into a corner, he realized as Raydor undid the cuffs that bound them all together.

Standing, Buzz rubbed at his wrists, trying to encourage the blood flow back into them. From the corner of his eye, he watched Flynn and Raydor embrace, stopping short of kissing in front of their colleagues, though he could well imagine that there would be plenty of that happening once they were alone. "Looks like Princess Parfait saved the day again," Provenza muttered as he came up to his side and clapped a hand on Buzz's shoulder. "Come on, Buzz, let's give the two lovebirds some alone time."

Nodding, Buzz followed Provenza out into the warm afternoon air, and he breathed in deeply, fully appreciating how much better it smelled when coming out of a situation like this. He was alive, free, and the world stretched out before him almost unfettered. The only thing that could possibly make this better would be to find a lover, someone to share the rest of his life with. But he supposed that he would have to take things one at a time, so as not to make another misstep.


End file.
